[Wikipedia-l] Valentine's day!

[Mark Williamson]

Not to spoil your fun, but unlike Christmas there is a much more
international greeting for the same holiday (Valentine's Day) that is
much less likely to alienate or offend others.

There is no way to say "Happy valentine's day" in O'odham
(Pima/Papago) or Piipaash (Maricopa) or Xalychidoma (Halichidhoma)
without sounding extremely strange and perhaps overly religious - it
is definitely non-traditional and not all speakers of these languages
(well, at least O'odham) know what it is.

Thus, while I have no problem with your project, I believe an "I Love
You" project should be featured more prominently - "I love you" is
religiously neutral, and while not entirely culturally neutral is much
more neutral than "Happy Valentine's Day". (even in Tagalog, the
translation of "I'm lovin' it" is "'love' ko to")

However, it should still be noted that "love" isn't a universal
concept (you may object and say it IS universal, but "love" as opposed
to sexuality is very much a cultural construct and is absent from some
cultures entirely), and in addition to that, that "love" means
different things to different cultures.

Mark

On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 11:54:52 +0100, Sabine Cretella
<sabine_cretella at yahoo.it> wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> Last year I started this collection on my private wiki - now I
> transferred it to the Italian wiktionary.
> http://it.wiktionary.org/wiki/Buon_San_Valentino%21
> So please have a look at it to correct and/or complete it - this would
> be really great :-)
> 
> Btw.: the editor Langenscheidt in Germany uses the wishes in 20
> languages to send out the greetings - can't we do much better? I'll now
> search for a photo to combine with the wishes.
> 
> Ciao, Sabine
> 
> *******************
> 
> Buon San Valentino!
> Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
> 
> Italiano
> 
> Espressione
> 
> Buon San Valentino!
> 
> Traduzione
> 
> * bulgaro: Chestit Sveti Valentin!
> * danese: De kærligste hilsner på Vantentinsdag!
> * tedesco:
> 
> Alles Gute zum Valentinstag!
> Alles Liebe zum Valentinstag!
> 
> * inglese:
> 
> Happy St. Valentine's Day!
> Happy Valentine's Day!
> 
> * esperanto: Bonan Tagon de Sankta Valentino!
> * spagnolo:
> 
> ¡Feliz día del amor y de la amistad! (Colombia)
> ¡Feliz día de San Valentín!
> ¡Feliz San Valentín!
> ¡Feliz día de los enamorados! (Venezuela)
> 
> * finlandese: Hyvää ystävänpäivää!
> * francese:
> 
> Joyeuse St. Valentin!
> Bonne fête de la Saint-Valentin!
> 
> * croato:
> 
> Sretno Valentinovo!
> S ljubavlju za Valentinovo!
> 
> * ungherese:
> 
> Boldog Valentin Napot!
> Sok szeretettel Valentin-napon!
> 
> * giapponese: ハッピーバレンタインデー.
> * olandese:
> 
> Wil jij mijn Valentijn zijn? (attenzione: significa "Vorresti essere il
> mio Valentino" - quindi da utilizzare veramente soltanto per che si ama
> e non per una amico/a)
> Fijne Valentijnsdag!
> 
> * norvegese: Kjærlig hilsen i anledning valentinsdagen!
> * polacco: Wszystkiego nahlepszego z okazji walentynek!
> * portoghese brasiliano: Feliz Dia dos Namorados!
> * svedese:
> 
> Alla hjärtans dag!
> Kära hälsingar på Alla hjärtans dag!
> 
> * serbo: Sve najlepše za dan svetog Valentina!
> * sloveno: Veliko ljubezni na Valentinovo!
> * turco: Sevgililer günü kutlu olsun!
> 
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